Sixth suicide of debt-strapped cabbie has drivers on edge and leads to calls for resignation of TLC commissioner

Rep. Adriano Espaillat is calling on TLC commissioner Meera Joshi to step down in the wake of the latest suicide by a taxi driver. (Jefferson Siegel / New York Daily News)

The tragic suicide of another cab driver facing financial woes stunned his fellow cabbies stunned and led a Manhattan lawmaker to demand the resignation of the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s top official.

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Abdul Saleh, 59, at least the sixth cabbie to commit suicide since November, worked seven days a week, preferring to pick up passengers at Kennedy Airport, neighbor and fellow driver Raza Ahmad told the Daily News on Saturday.

The Yemeni immigrant drove a yellow cab for 30 years, sending money across the Atlantic to help his family in the war-torn nation.

But times were tough for the Brooklyn driver as he, like many others before him, fell into financial straits in the face of rising competition from ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.

”It’s too hard making money,” said Ahmad, a friend of the cabbie who lives in the same Flatlands building where the 59-year-old man was found hanged on Friday. “You have to work 12 hours to make money, especially if you have a family.”

Outside the building, a sign strapped to the fence read: “RIP Abdul Saleh.”

Abdul Saleh was found dead in his Brooklyn home on June 5. (Obtained by News)

“We honor you our taxi driver brother,” was posted on another. Yellow roses were woven through the chain links to form a frame for the signs, and more flowers and candles were placed on the sidewalk below.

Ahmad recently switched from driving a yellow cab to a green outer-borough taxi and said Saleh was hoping to do the same.

“Two weeks ago, he was going to work and he was very upset,” Ahmad said. “He said, ‘Did you find any green taxi?’ I said ‘No, my brother, I couldn’t find any green taxi. How is business?’ And he said, ‘Business is going down.’ And then he left. It’s so sad.”

Saleh’s death follows five other similar suicides over the last eight months. Driver Yu Mein (Kenny) Chow’s body was found last month in the East River after he vanished for 11 days.

“It is heartbreaking to hear that we’ve lost another of our licensees to suicide,” said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg. “While we may never know why Mr. Saleh made such a tragic decision, it is clear that many of his brother and sister drivers are pain and distress.”

He urged any drivers struggling with financial or mental health issues to reach out for help.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) called on TLC Commissioner Meera Joshi to step down in the wake of the latest tragedy.

“Commissioner Joshi needs to resign now because she has failed to resolve or even address this issue, as we continue to witness more lives come to a tragic end,” Espaillat said. “We must address this critical issue before it’s too late for another NYC taxi driver or their family.”

But Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer defended Joshi Saturday, calling her a “tremendous” commissioner who has always advocated for taxi drivers’ rights.